


Consolations.

by coquetteauxbasbleu



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 17:58:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7650883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coquetteauxbasbleu/pseuds/coquetteauxbasbleu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Lovely artwork by Chenria (chenria.tumblr.com)</p></blockquote>





	Consolations.

     The mid-afternoon sky was so perfect, cloudless and clear, that when Audrey looked up she could almost pretend the field around her wasn’t dead and dry, and that the homestead she was walking towards wasn’t a shack built onto an old powerline tower, but maybe one of the cute little farmhouses she’d always wished she and Nate could have moved to.

_“Someday, Audrey. You’ll have your garden and and Shaun will go out every morning to milk the cows.” Nate grinned, pecking her on the cheek before taking a sip of his coffee._

_“I never said anything about cows. Maybe a chicken or two...”_

     On cue, a brahmin bellowed from its pen and Audrey sighed, looking down at the small settlement. She’d never meant to get involved with the Minutemen, and had put Preston off as long as she could, but somehow...here she was. Agent of the Minutemen, here to save the day. Nevermind that it would be in her Brotherhood of Steel fatigues, and with a soldier in a huge suit of power armor thudding along behind her.

_Just a quick errand. Kill some raiders. Save some settlers. Help Preston get the Minutemen name back out there...then…_

     Then what? She glanced over her shoulder at the man marching along a few steps behind her, his slow, measured steps an attempt not to outpace her. He couldn’t ever go back, and she’d been avoiding the Airport and the Prydwen like the plague since the revelation about Danse’s origins. She didn’t care, but the Brotherhood certainly did. Elder Maxson certainly did.

     The Brotherhood was the first thing she’d found that had made any damn sense in this world, had any order and felt like a place she belonged...and she had to muck it up with...whatever this was to her. Whatever _he_ was to her. An old world comfort being thrown off kilter. It didn't make any sense, and Audrey hated when things didn't make sense. _Particularly when she did things that didn't make sense._

     Elder Maxson might pitch her off the side of his airship if he knew that, under her uniform, on the same chain she wore her dead husband’s wedding ring, were Danse’s holotags.

     “You keep looking up.” It was a statement, not a question, so Audrey didn’t answer. “You seem distracted, Paladin Alden.” Danse switched tactics, trying formality. His voice caught, almost imperceptibly, on “Paladin.” His title. Before she’d executed him as an enemy of the Brotherhood, as the official report said. The report also failed to mention the rumors that had been pinging off the airship’s hull like ricocheting bullets for weeks; Knight Alden and Paladin Danse had developed a close relationship that bordered on inappropriate (depending on who was talking, whether or not it just “bordered” was up for discussion), given their ranks, prior to her orders to find and execute him.

     It’s probably why Maxson had sent her; it would solve two issues. It would punish Audrey for her emotional indiscretion, and also took advantage of her personal knowledge of the Paladin. He couldn’t have guessed that the little doe-eyed vault dweller, the one who fell into line and followed orders like she'd been raised to, would defy him.

     “Are you just going to ignore me? Have I done something to merit such treatment? Audrey?”

     Questions. She had to respond to those.

     “It’s not anything you did. I was just thinking. A...a lot has happened. I haven’t had very much time to process everything.” _Like how I told you I love you._

     As they reached the edge of the homestead, Danse spoke up again. “You were checking...the weather, then?” He sounded dubious.

_Dammit. Questions._

     “No...that was different. I was just thinking about how if I looked up at that sky, it looked as blue as the day I went into the vault. I’m sure it wasn’t for a long time...but...if I look up, it’s like nothing ever happened. Like I could look back and this homestead might be a real house, with crops that families can really thrive on. The trees might have leaves. There might be flowers again.” Audrey’s mouth hardened into a thin line as she slid her sunglasses down off the top of her head to hide her eyes, brimming with tears. “I...I just miss how things used to be, sometimes.” _Always._

      Danse stopped pressing; the patrolman’s sunglasses were her wall. They had business to attend to, at any rate, and Audrey needed to compose herself before she approached the settlers here. It wouldn’t do any good to have a weeping Brotherhood soldier, representing the Minutemen, claiming to be capable of clearing out marauding bands of raiders when she looked like a cat could snap her in two.

     The Abernathy farm wasn’t much to look at, but it was something in a whole lot of nothingness. A decent planting of Tatos grew, row by row, and if she squinted, Audrey could almost pretend they were tomato plants. The penned brahmin brayed pathetically at the edge of the farm, and the house itself was a sort of ingenious design, Audrey had to admit; using the old power line tower as a frame gave it a lot of height, and probably stability, she assumed.

     Emerging from the doorway, shotgun drawn and aimed, a weathered man in dusty farm clothes looked Audrey and Danse over cautiously, then lowered his weapon, but didn’t take his finger off the trigger. “What are you doing here? We don’t have anything the Brotherhood could want.”

     “I’m not here with the Brotherhood. I’m here on behalf of the Minutemen. You having a problem with some raiders?” Audrey wove through the rows of tatos, ignoring the grey tabby cat mewing at her heels. She’d never liked cats, and cats always seemed to pick up on it, immediately attaching themselves to her. “Preston Garvey asked us to help.”

     The farmer eyed her suspiciously. “Preston sent you? Why the uniform and power armor?”

     Audrey sighed. She knew she should have worn something else and made Danse leave the armor, but getting him out of it was like trying to pull teeth, and the fatigues were the cleanest, most comfortable thing she had to wear.

      “I’m also a Paladin with the Brotherhood. But...I work with the Minutemen when I have time. It’s a...worthy cause.”  Audrey didn’t mean to sound doubtful. She genuinely did think the Minutemen could be a good thing...but Preston lacked the manpower or resources. Which was why she was there.

      ”Well...We need help with the raiders, so whoever you’re here with, if you can take care of them, you’ll have our thanks.” He lowered the shotgun and extended a gloved hand. “Blake Abernathy. This is my farm. If you need to do any trading, see my wife, she handles all that. My daughter and I take care of most of the planting and harvests. Some raiders out by the old Satellite station have been giving us a hard time, taking everything they want...food, medicine, supplies...Our other daughter Mary thought...thought she could stand up to them. They killed her, and took her locket. Look, that locket’s been in my wife’s family for generations. If you could get it back...it would mean a lot.” He shifted uncomfortably. “We can’t offer much, but there’ll be some caps in it for you if you can bring it back.”

      Audrey shook her head. “No, no money. We’ll take care of the raiders, and we’ll find the locket. You have my word.” She shook Abernathy’s hand, and turned to start walking again. She already knew what satellite station he had been talking about; she’d always thought it was an eyesore before the war. Couldn’t be any better now.

      “It’s getting late. We should camp here near the homestead. I’ll take first watch.” Danse looked down at her from his metal tower; she was tall, but he was taller, even without the power armor. In it, she might as well have been a mouse next to him.

     Audrey rolled her eyes. “You always take first watch.”

     At the edge of the farm, they set up camp. Audrey sat down on a rock and dug around in her pack for dinner options. “Looks like...pork and beans, or I can make something with this canned mirelurk.”

     “I’ll take the pork and beans.” He disengaged his power armor and stepped out of it, then glanced at Audrey. She was looking up at him, her eyebrow raised slightly and the corners of her mouth turned downwards. “I...uh. Not to say there’s anything wrong with your cooking. Your mirelurk stew, last occasion, was admirable, Audrey. But I know the day has been weighing heavily on you.” Danse rubbed the back of his neck.

     “Nice save.” Audrey sighed. “Pork and beans it is.” She tossed a can at him.

     After they ate, Audrey stretched out on her sleeping bag and looked up at the sky, trying to ignore the rocks poking through the lumpy padding and threadbare fabric. Without city lights to disrupt their glow, the stars of the Commonwealth were countless.

     “May I lay next to you before you fall asleep?” Danse asked quietly from where he sat on the other side of the small fire they started. It had burned down to just embers at this point.

     “Of course, Danse.” Audrey shifted over so there was a little space on the sleeping bag for him, and he laid down beside her, his movements hesitant as he pressed against her back and draped an arm over her waist. They laid quietly, listening to each other’s breath, to the soft hum of a generator somewhere, to crickets. The cat from earlier had found them and curled up against Audrey’s stomach, purring; she scratched it behind the ears, grumbling.

     “When all of...this...is over. What do you plan to do?” Danse gently stroked the length of Audrey’s arm until reaching her hand and lacing his fingers with hers.

     Audrey frowned. “I’m not sure. I thought...I thought about leaving. Going back to the Capital Wasteland with the Brotherhood. Since...Shaun.” Her voice caught in her throat. Her baby had grown and become old and morally corrupt while she was frozen underground and the thought of it made bile rise at the back of her throat. She still hadn't decided what to do about it. About him. About the Institute.

     “I see. That would be a prudent decision.”

     “That was before.” She rolled over to face him, unceremoniously dislodging the cat, who found a new spot near her feet (though not without complaint). “I won’t do that now. I won’t go if they won’t have you.”

     “Audrey, you shouldn’t derail a promising career for a...machine.”

     “You’re not a machine. You’re a man. And I love you.” Audrey took his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. “The Brotherhood is wrong about synths. And they were wrong about you.” She nuzzled his neck and wrapped her arms around him.  “We can help here. That’s why I decided to help Preston. The Minutemen. I think...I think maybe we can help him build something out of this. It just needs...discipline.”

     Danse was quiet, considering. “I will respect whatever decision you make.” He paused, then gently took her by the chin and tilted her face so he could look at her. “I love you, too, Audrey. Being with you has made me realize I don’t want to be alone ever again...I don’t know if I can ever express how much all you’ve done means to me.”

     “You don’t have to thank me...and you don’t have to be alone.” Audrey smiled faintly and kissed him again, lingering longer this time. “But you could let me take first watch, for a change.”

     Danse snorted. “I don’t see how that would express any kind of gratitude.”

     “It wouldn’t. But it would make me happy knowing you’re getting some rest.”

     He sighed. “Fine. You take first watch. But before you do, you need to answer a question. Before the Great War...What was your favorite flower?”

     Audrey’s brow furrowed. “I don’t see what that has to do with--”

     “It doesn’t have to do with anything. I’d just like to know.”

     “Poppies.” She sighed. “Especially red poppies. I’ve never seen anything that even comes close to them out here. They were hard to find, even before the war, sometimes...they could be used in drug manufacturing, so the government kept a close eye on them...but they were so beautiful.”

    Danse nodded. “Red poppies. Very well. You’d best get to your watch, Paladin Alden. Wake me when it is my turn.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

      Audrey returned the gesture, knowing full well it was unlikely she’d have to wake him; he rarely slept well, and would likely wake well before it was time for them to switch places. Sitting up, she retrieved her laser rifle, and found a decent spot to sit at the edge of their camp, leaning against a dead oak tree. Pulling the pins from her hair, she let the blonde waves fall down to her shoulders and shook them out, then set about disassembling and cleaning her extra pistol to pass the time, trying to ignore her new feline friend.

     Damn. Poppies. It had been a while since she’d thought about poppies in particular, but she’d missed flowers. The wasteland did _have_ flowers: pale blue hubflowers, the waterlily-like bloodleaf, fern flowers...but they weren’t like old-world flowers. They lacked color, variety, sheer volume. After their wedding, Nate had filled their little apartment in Salem to the brim with cut flowers, and Audrey had barely known what to do with herself. For someone with such a hard edge at times, it seemed like an odd soft spot to have, but she allowed herself the inconsistency. Flowers, dogs, and children.

      “I’ve slept long enough.” Danse sat down next to her, pale, shaken, sweat beaded on his brow. Audrey glanced at her pip-boy. It had only been about three hours; still an hour longer than he usually slept, but she didn’t question him. She had her nightmares, and he had his. She just nodded, handed him her rifle, and went to her pack, retrieving a can of water and a clean rag. Popping the can open, she dampened the rag with a little water before settling back down next to him and handing him the can. He didn’t say anything, just closed his eyes as she wiped the sweat away from his face and neck.

     “Drink.” She ordered, and he complied without his usual argument about the waste of water. When he finished, she took the can, took several sips herself, and set it down. “ It’s only 10pm. I still have two more hours on my shift.”

     “Go get some extra sleep, then. I’ll stay up until you wake.”

     “Nonsense. I’m not even tired.” Audrey gently jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “Keep me company?”

     “Fair enough, I suppose.” He seemed dissatisfied, but too preoccupied to argue.

     “Headache?” She asked, watching him rub his temples. She knew all about those, too, triggered from the way she clenched her jaw when stressed. Which was always. Audrey had seen him doing the same thing.

     “No. Not this time. Just trying to clear my head.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “This dream was particularly...unnerving. I don’t want to burden you with it.” He sighed, and draped his arm over her shoulders, resting his chin on top of her head.

     “It’s not a burden, Danse. I don’t pry. But if you feel like talking...I’ll listen. You know that.”

      Audrey felt his shoulders drop, and he leaned back against the tree, quiet for several minutes before speaking.

      “You are aware of my history with Cutler and his infection with FEV.” His voice was tense and low, as if speaking of his old friend aloud might summon his ghost. “And...how that ended. The dreams are often just replays of that. Reliving it. This dream was different. It wasn’t Cutler.” He hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck. “You told me that when you were inside the Institute, you went into Virgil’s lab there. Everything had been sealed off because of risk of contamination and you had picked the locks of some back doors--”

     The realization of what his dream had been about dawned on her, and she shook her head, horrified. “Oh, Danse, no...There wasn’t any contamination, it was just a ruse Sha--the Director was using to scare people from looking into what happened in there. Please don’t worry about me. You don’t have to worry about me.” She crawled onto her knees and sat up in front of him, taking his face in her hands. “I’m fine, Danse. Please believe me when I say that. Virgil never would have sent me in there if there had been any real risk. He’s a good man. I couldn’t have contracted FEV there.” She paused, unsure if she should say what she thought he needed to hear. “You’ll never have to put me down the way you had to Cutler, Danse. I promise.” Her eyes locked on his, and found them wide with...sadness? Shock? Some mingling of the two? Audrey wasn’t sure if she had said too much, or the wrong thing entirely, until he pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her hair. Audrey stroked the back of his neck and let him hold her for what seemed like hours before she finally spoke again, just a whisper.

     “I’d love you even if I was a big, stupid, green supermutant…” She sat back and jutted her lower jaw out, then made the worst face she could muster. “Audie love big good human. Danse strong. Danse brave. Danse love Audie too?”

     Danse snorted. “That’s not funny, Audrey.”

     “I’m sorry.” She settled back into his lap and looked up at him. “I need to work on my comedic timing.”

     “Timing, yes. The impression is exemplary, though. You should tutor squires on what to expect during their first encounters with the beasts.” The faintest tilt upwards appeared at the corner of his mouth as she squealed in protest.

     “Fine, then. I suppose I’ll just go to bed and let you keep watch on your own.” She started to roll off his lap, but he tightened his grip around her and shook his head.

     “Hold it, Soldier. Your watch doesn’t end for another…” He tugged at her arm and checked the time on her Pip-boy. “...32 minutes.”

     “What happened to ‘get some extra sleep’? You’re so fickle. I suppose, if you’re going to be such a hardass about it, I’ll finish my watch. It’s only fair. But I have a request.”

     “Permission to speak granted.”

     “For this...well, 29 minutes, now...Let’s just sit together. I just want to be near you.”

     Audrey looped her arms around his neck and let her head rest against his chest, closing her eyes.

     Danse waited several minutes before he spoke. “Not keeping very good watch, Paladin, with your eyes shut.”

     The slow, even rhythm of Audrey’s breathing told him she was already asleep.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Lovely artwork by Chenria (chenria.tumblr.com)


End file.
